High School Students Build a Ford-Powered Factory Five

We’ve gotten to know the crew at Experience Aviation over the years. These guys make a name by teaching high school students valuable life skills while building custom cars. Headed up by world-record holding pilot Barrington Irving, the people at Experience Aviation and the students of their most recent class were just featured on MotorAuthority.com for their Factory Five Type 65 Coupe build.

“Detroit area high school students had an assignment way cooler than any typical school project: assemble a 1965 Cobra Daytona Coupe.

The Ford Fund together with the Detroit Public Schools Community District and Experience Aviation collaborated to let high school students put their skills to use, and in the process prepare them for future careers.

The car, naturally, is a replica of the iconic Shelby Daytona Coupe built by Shelby American. The replica car features 1,000 parts and was designed by Factory Five Racing, while Ford supplied a 306-cubic inch engine that delivers 350 horsepower. Ford also supplied the transmission and independent rear suspension. The project took 18 weeks altogether.” – Sean Szymkowski, MotorAuthority.com

Latest Factory Five News

Ryan B. Unveils his ’35 Hot Rod Truck ‘MACH 35e’!

The Factory Five ’35 Hot Rod Truck is designed to be built with a small block Ford or Chevy, 5.0L Coyote, LS, or Hemi engine, but every so often these days, we hear a story about someone going down a different path and building their own custom EV out of our kit. Ryan B. from East Coast Cobras in Hollis, NH did just that, and recently graduated his Tesla-powered ’35 Hot Rod Truck! Read More »

Read More

The Bostrom’s Mk4 Shines at First Car Show!

“This is a lifetime dream come true for me!” John exclaims as he shares the news of graduating Mk4 Roadster build and attending his first car show with the completed car earlier this month. John found a partially built Mk4 Roadster for sale back in November 2023. He took a trip to talk to the owner in Katy, TX, and was soon bringing it home for him to complete the assembly. “I built a 454 Windsor Ford with Inglese 8 stack injection for it myself,” said John. “Installed it and got it to the running stage. My younger brother, his friend,… Read More »

Read More

Jim and Cecily T. Graduate Their Mk4 Roadster!

Congratulations to Jim. and Cecily T. from Heathsville, VA on graduating their Factory Five Mk4 Roadster build! They received their kit in April 2024. “I was in no rush since I planned on enjoying the build just as much as cruising in it.,” said Jim. “Goes back to my old drag racing days in the 70’s. Tinkering on that car was as much fun as racing it.” Jim’s plan for his Roadster build also included building up a 427 stroker engine as well as doing the paint as he saw it as an additional part of the build that he would enjoy… Read More »

Read More
Top